Christmas Configurations Box

Merry Christmas Eve! I've been anxiously waiting to share my holiday Configurations Box with you all! This will be a picture heavy post so feast your eyes :)

I kept the box bright and airy with light pastel blues, greens, and pinks. I also reused a lot pretty ribbon and gift wrapping decorations... I always save them for things like this!

Lots of gesso, distress paint, and glitter involved in this project!

For every individual box I started with a thin layer gesso, then added a thin layer of book paper with matte medium, and some either got a glitter treatment or a pretty gold ribbon added. The MERRY blocks were painted with Distress Paint in Spun Sugar, Tumbled Glass, and Twisted Citron. The little deer and the 'bright' charm were painted with Twisted Citron. The little tree and snowballs were colored with Spun Sugar. I add everything with a HOT GLUE GUN! I cannot stress that enough... don't waste your time waiting for glue to dry, just hot glue those suckers.

The centerpiece of the configuration box is actually this gorgeous star that was tied around a gift tag that I received. You can see the gold ribbon in the back (also hoarded from old gift bags) and some gold and silver mini jingle bells.

With the pack of holiday greeting chipboard pieces I added the NOEL which I also painted in Twisted Citron. I raised it in front of a layer of mini snowballs and you can also see a pretty iridescent ribbons flowing between the boxes. 

The reindeer got a layer of gesso, then some Tumbled Glass paint, and A LOT of layers of Stickles on the antlers.

The Santa Claus was the most tedious part of the entire box... but that's only because I couldn't make up my mind on what color I wanted him to be. After 3 layers of gesso and paint, gesso and paint, I finally just decided to keep him white... good enough for me! The metal numbers were of course gesso'd and painted with Spun Sugar, then received a generous layer of Icicle Stickles.

I love this little metal wreath! It was painted with Twisted Citron and Festive Berries.

Thanks for joining me! Have a very Merry Christmas!

(you can view my Halloween Configurations Box here)

SUPPLIES

Tools:

Configurations Box

Hot Glue Gun

Hot Glue Sticks

Ranger Craft Mat

Fiskars Easy Grip Shears

Paint Brushes

Wagner Heat Gun

Paints, Mediums, Accents:

Distress Paint - Spun Sugar

Distress Paint - Twisted Citron

Distress Paint - Tumbled Glass

Distress Paint - Festive Berries

Faber Castell Design Memory Craft - Gesso

Faber Castell Design Memory Craft - Honey Medium

Stickles - Icicle

Silver Microbeads

American Crafts WOW! Glitter

Doo-Dads:

Ideaology - Typed Tokens

Ideaology - Woodland Trees (small)

Ideaology - Woodland Trees (mini)

Ideaology - Decorative Deer

Ideaology - Decorative Wreath

Ideaology - Salvaged Santa

Ideaology - Christmas Quote Chips

Ideaology - Wooden Letterpress Words

Season's Greetings

Another Christmas card, coming right up! Stampotique has such wonderfully unique stamps, and I knew the "Global Warming?" snowman would make the perfect card for my brother...

The snowman was stamped with Archival Black Ink on Strathmore heavyweight mixed media paper. I colored the image using Distress Inks as watercolors. I used Antique Linen for the ground, Broken China and Tumbled Glass for the snowman, Peeled Paint and Mowed Lawn for the scarf, and finally Festive Berries for the heart. 

I'll be linking up my card to the Stampotique challenge of Christmas!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Alpaca My Scarf

Happy Holidays! I'm still cranking out some last minute holiday cards, and finding that simpler is better right now. 

These itty Lawn Fawn sets are perfect for quick cards. It has the darling image and sentiment all planned out for you, so you don't have to pick and choose which image you want. For this card I used Lawn Fawn "Winter Alpaca" set... The alpaca is friggin adorable and the sentiment is one of my all-time favorites! I wish I could use it year round!

I trimmed a panel of black Simon Says Stamp Cardstock and heat embossed the sentiment in Zing Metallic Silver embossing power. Some simple skinny washi tape strips finish off the sentiment portion of the card... quick and easy!

The darling alpaca was colored with Copic markers and adorned with some Crystal Stickles on his scarf. I used Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Borders die and the Outside In Circle Scallop die  to frame him. 

I'm entering this card into the Lawnfawnatics Challenge to use your favorite Lawn Fawn set. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Otterly Great Birthday

Welcome back and happy December! I have created a cute birthday card using the color inspiration from the Lawnfawnatics challenge blog. The colors are geared toward the winter holidays so it was fun to use them to create a birthday card instead :)

I was inspired by the teal, red, and green in this color inspiration graphic...

All of the images were stamped on Neenah Solar White cardstock and colored with Copic markers. The images are from the Lawn Fawn "Christmas Like No Otter" set, which was a part of Simon Says Stamp Stamptember release. Unfortunately, this set is no longer available but I have linked to a similar set, Lawn Fawn "Winter Otter". The sentiment is still available and is from Lawn Fawn "Year Five".

SUPPLIES:

COPIC MARKERS

Lawn Fawn Stamp - Christmas like no otter

Lawn Fawn Stamp - Winter Otter

Fawn Fawn Dies - Winter Otter matching dies

Lawn Fawn Stamp - Year Five

Lawn Fawn Dies - Outside In Stitched Scallop Circles

Hero Arts Black Embossing Powder

Embossing Heat Tool

Inkadinkado Embossing Buddy

Bazzill Basics Paper - Peacock

Sizzix Big Shot

Fiskars Paper Trimmer

CutterBee Detail Scissors

Tombow Mono Multi Glue

Scotch Foam Adhesive

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White Cardstock

Snow White Art Journal

With the stress of work and school and real-life I've noticed that I'm drawn more to my art journal lately. It's a great way to get lost in some paint without having to worry about perfect placement or what others will think about it. I really enjoyed creating this art journal page for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Snow White. 

At first I was going to do an all white color palette, but as I created the light blues and purples became just as important in my 'snow' making.

I pulled out some old Unity Stamps for the background (I stamped with paint) and The Crafter's Workshop stencils for the stars and branches. First I used modeling paste with the stencil, then once the paste dried I layered the stencil back in place and painted them blue and purple.

I used the Dina Wakley art journal with the burlap panel cut down to be a flap to hide the quote.

The future lies before you

like a field of fallen snow.

Be careful how you tread it

for every step will show.

***SUPPLIES***

Dina Wakley Art Journal

Liquitex Acrylic Paint 48 Set

Unity Stamp Co "Stenciled and Deconstructed"

Unity Stamp Co "Beautiful Elements"

The Crafter's Workshop Herbarium

Speedball Art Brayer

Liquitex Light Modeling Paste

Fabel Castell Brush Pen - Black

Disney Traveler's Notebook Flip Through

Welcome back! For my birthday this year we celebrated at the Happiest Place on Earth and I'm even more thrilled to say we are Disneyland Annual Passholders! Woohoo! So to document our trip I decided to create a mini album out of a spare traveler's notebook insert.

There are about 30 pages in this album and it took me 2 weeks to complete. It was a labor of love but completely worth it, plus it's my first Disney mini album! If the video below isn't working you can always watch it directly in youtube right here.

I hope you enjoy the video of all the pages. I've included some photos below of my favorites...

****SUPPLIES**** Traveler's Notebook Insert: http://shrsl.com/mqbc Simple Stories Say Cheese Collection: http://shrsl.com/mqbe Say Cheese Cardstock Stickers: http://shrsl.com/mqbf Say Cheese Alpha/Phrase Stickers: http://shrsl.com/mqbh Say Cheese Brads: http://shrsl.com/mqbn Say Cheese Chipboard Stickers: http://amzn.to/2hn94Os Fancy Pants Spellbound Emphemera Pack: http://shrsl.com/mqbr Fancy Pants Spellbound Tags: http://shrsl.com/mqbs Fancy Pants Spellbound 6x6 Paper: http://shrsl.com/mqbu Pink Paislee Spellcast Paper: http://shrsl.com/mqbx FABER CASTELL GELATOS SET: http://shrsl.com/mqc1 ATG Refills: http://shrsl.com/mqcj Scotch ATG Gun: http://amzn.to/2hmgEcb Mini Hot Glue Gun: http://amzn.to/2hnB6cP Tombow Mono Liquid Glue: http://shrsl.com/mqcp

My First Configurations Box - Halloween

 It took about 2 weeks of slowly working here and there when I was inspired... but my first configurations box is complete! And I have to say I'm pretty happy with how it turned out :)

Before I really knew where it was going, I first painted all of the boxes and put some background details inside. The paint I used was Elephant from Dina Wakley Media, and I distressed all of the edges with a bit of Antique Stain by DecoArt. The glitter and other sparkly shiny bits used in the background are all from Finnabair.

The main images of the entire box are two amazing stamps by Stampotique called Daniel's Tree Topper and Dweeze that I stamped on watercolor paper and colored with Dina Wakley Media Scribble Sticks.

The Dweeze box is my favorite part! The cool spooky tree branch was die cut from chipboard and then heat embossed with black embossing powder multiple times until it got thick and bumpy. I hot glued the branch across the box then glued Dweeze to the branch. Dweeze is anchored by the "halloween" sign on the bottom, which has been painted with Spiced Marmalade. A couple of bats and an Ideaology skeleton hanging on the top finish it off.

I think this tiny 1" box really packs a creepy punch! I tinted the Salvaged Doll with the DecoArt antique stain and glued a stabby looking pen nib in her hands... only she knows where those skulls and bones came from!

The small box on the top is pretty straightforward with a 31 plaque that's been tinted with Distress Paints Wilted Violet and Twisted Citron. The vial was stained with Adirondack alcohol ink and some Finnabair glitter placed inside. The crossbone was also painted with Twisted Citron and hot glued to the box.

Hot glue is your best friend when making a configurations box, don't let anyone tell you otherwise! I hot glued a stacked of skulls, some bones, an embossed raven, and the creepy angel to the box on the top. 

I'll be linking this project to with the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "Walk on the Dark Side" and also the Stampotique Designer Challenge "Anything but a Card"

SUPPLIES LINKED HERE!

TIM HOLTZ IDEA-OLOGY PRODUCTS USED:

Configurations Box

Corked Vials Jars

Crypt Cameos

Spider charms

Skulls

Bones

Halloween Typed Tokens

Gumdrops (stained with Adirondack alcohol)

Salvaged Dolls

Pen Nibs

Mini Plaquettes (31 number plaque)

Wicked Alpha-Parts (spooky, halloween, and bats)

Raven Thinlets Die (tree branch)

PAINTS, STAINS, INKS:

Dina Waklet Media - Scribble Sticks

Dina Wakley Media - Elephant

Distress Paint - Twisted Citron

Distress Paint - Wilted Violet

Distress Paint - Spiced Marmalade

DecoArt Antique Cream

Adirondack Alcohol - Nature Walk

MISCELLANEOUS:

Stampotique - Daniel's Tree Topper

Stampotique - Dweeze

Design Memory Craft Gesso

Hot Glue Gun

Cutter Bee Detail Scissors

Ranger Heat Tool

Finnabair Glitters

Black Embossing Powder

Boo!

Yesterday was World Card Making Day! It felt great to create again, even if it's just something small. There are so many great challenges that I've been missing out on... I can't believe this is my first entry to the wonderful Lawnfawnatics Challenge! The current challenge is "Happy Little Critters" where you need to showcase a Lawn Fawn critter in your project.

This Halloween ATC uses the little deer from "Party Animal" combined with a Frankenstein hat and stitches from "Booyah", both colored with Copic markers.

The background was super cute to create. I rubbed Distress Oxide Inks Wilted Violet and Spiced Marmalade over black cardstock. Next I used the Measured stencil from Tim Holtz with some Twisted Citron Distress Paint. The final touches include the metal skull (painted with Spiced Marmalade Distress Paint), a fork (ha!), and the Boo stickers.

SUPPLIES:

Lawn Fawn - Party Animal

Lawn Fawn - Booyah

Copic Markers

Distress Oxide Wilted Violet

Distress Oxide Spiced Marmalade

Distress Paint Spiced Marmalade

Distress Paint Twisted Citron

Tim Holtz Stencil - Measured

Idea-ology Crossbones

Design Memory Craft Gesso

Hello, Baby

I'm back! We are officially moved in to the wonderful city of Berkeley, California. We've had an incredibly busy summer, a lot of driving, a lot of training for work, and not so much crafty time. My studio is finished enough to finally make something, and man did it feel good to stamp and color! So my first card is for my bestest friend in the world and her new adorable baby!

Since it's been so long, I needed some inspiration. I turned to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge which is "For a Child". Naturally I made a card for almost 3 week old baby George :)

I stamped several small images from Mama Elephant's "New Family" stamp set for a background. I colored all images with my Copic markers.

The little bun bun and sentiment are also from the New Family stamp set. Welcome to the world sweet baby George and congrats to Katie! Love you guys!

Supplies:

Stamps: Mama Elephant - New Family

Copic Markers

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper: Neenah Solar White

Adhesive: Tombow Dot Roller, Tombow Foam Tabs

Tools: Sizzix Big Shot, Fiskars trimmer

And So...

It's about time to dust this old blog off and post something :) We're in the middle of selling our house and moving across the country, so artsy time is few and far between. I decided to join in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Home Sweet Home.

The base for this quick tag was some torn up Gelli Prints I had from years ago. I adhered it to the tag with Design Memory Craft Honey Medium.

Then I added some dry-wall tape to add texture. I colored the tape with purple and light blue Scribble Sticks to pull some colors from the Gelli Print.

I forgot to take a picture of the next step... I used white fluorescent ribbon from a gift bag and adhered it to the tag. It needed a very thick layer of Gel Medium and a lot of time to dry! While I waited, I worked on coloring my house images...

I stamped the house images onto Gesso'd watercolor paper and colored with Scribble Sticks. The stamps are from Unity Stamp Co "Create Your Day" and "Tumbleweed Houses".

Finally I added some clear gems, a metal arrow, and a sentiment. Tag finished!

Hoppy Easter!

Happy Easter everybunny! 

I'm just hopping over to dust off the ol' blog and post some adorable Easter cards. My dear friend Lynn Kopas and I created some cards while we were at Crop on the Cape... So here they are!

These cards are created with adorable Lawn Fawn stamp sets and Lawn Fawn paper pads. Happy Easter!

SUPPLIES:

Stamps

Lawn Fawn Eggstra Special Easter

Lawn Fawn Chirpy Chirp Chirp 

Paper Pads

Lawn Fawn - Perfectly Plaid Rainbow 6x6 pad

Lawn Fawn - Let's Polka in the Meadow

Other

Lawn Fawn Stamping Shammy

Copic Markers

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink